Hookah/Sheesha: The Silent but Dangerous New Fad in the Tobacco Industry
Faraaz Shah sent me the following article by Mubashar Khan (See Right: both are First-Year Med Students at Mt. Sinai Med School). It’s an excellent read. Personally, I have always refrained from smoking sheesha or anything for that matter. It truly is a shame how popular ‘sheesha’ has become.
The Silent but Dangerous New Fad in the Tobacco Industry
By Mubashar Khan
In less than a decade, the tobacco industry has seen its public face diminished in a storm of its own lies, deceit, and decrepit marketing of an item known to be harmful to our health. Despite proper warnings by various medical institutions and individuals, the tobacco industry continued to promote cigarette smoking in a multitude of ventures. It took over fifty years for the world to realize that lies cannot continue and that advocacy of the individual’s health is far more important than the money capitalism showers upon the tobacco industry. Slowly, the world took notice. Airplane companies banned smoking. Restaurants as well as other public places banned smoking. Bars in New York prohibited smoking. Legislative bodies are now procuring support to ban cigarette smoking even in the outdoors. With every establishment taking notice, lung cancer rates have been dropping, as well as other diseases, i.e. heart disease, as well as the mortality rates directly attributed to cigarette smoking. However, a new form of inhaled death is taking shape as being the new cigarette. It has blinded individuals to believe that it isn’t harmful and that all who partake in this new fad will not be venturing on a road that might resoundingly lead to “déjà vu all over again.” This hopeful fad of hookah smoking has started to emerge in the west as an alternative to cigarette smoking minus the deleterious effects. No deleterious effects? This is too good to be true. The truth is inhaling smoke, in any form, can’t come without danger. The fact that it has other names, like many other illicit drugs, gave me insight that it’s not the safest item to use. It is also known as nargeela, argila, sheesha, ghalyan, as well as hubbly-bubbly.
I was first introduced to the concept of hookah smoking as a child, when I saw individuals back in South Asia puffing away on this long pipe. The shape of the apparatus consists of a base which is partially filled with water, a bowl where flavored tobacco is placed, a pipe that connects the base and the bowl, and a hose that connects to the air portion of the base. Like the even more dangerous bidi from India, tobacco of various flavors including peach, mango, strawberry, apple, blueberry, and many others, just to name a few are utilized as the variant ingredients of hookah’s smoke. Many times, it’s the flavor of the tobacco that people are enticed to continue smoking. It was not till the late 90′s and early 2000s that hookah had really caught on. Friends from college would end up spending their afternoons and nights in hookah bars for hours on end. Eventually, their addiction laid claim to them buying not one but several of their own hookahs. Their claim, like many hookah smokers, was that it has less nicotine due to the lower heat used on the tobacco amongst other items. That fictitious claim couldn’t be corroborated by any non-hookah smoker.
Many papers have been released in scientific journals such as Pediatrics (Water-Pipe (Narghile) Smoking: An Emerging Health Risk Behavior; Barry Knishkowy MD/MPH, Yona Amitai MD/MPH) as well as The Journal of Periodontology illustrating the injurious effects of hookah. First of all, the tobacco used in hookah consists of 2-4% nicotine, compared to 1-3% in cigarettes. After a single 45 minute smoking session, nicotine levels in the blood rose 60 fold (1.11-60.31 ng/mL) and cotinine rose well over 50 fold (0.79-51.95 mg/mL). The carbon monoxide content is much higher in hookah smokers than in cigarette smokers. A study comparing hookah smokers who smoked between 10-40 minutes and cigarette smokers and non smokers found that the concentration of carboxyhemoglobin (a degree of measuring carbon monoxide) in hookah smokers was 10.6% compared to cigarette smokers (6.5%) and non smokers (1.6%). The more carbon monoxide in the blood stream means less oxygen the various parts of your body will receive. This could very well correlate with the light headed feeling many hookah smokers claim to have after a session. The filtered smoke many hookah smokers profess to inhale isn’t filtered to a great extent. In fact, 100 puffs of hookah contained more significant amounts of nicotine, tar, arsenic, chromium, and lead compared to cigarette smoking. Some items might be less than those found in cigarette smoking, but hookah smokers end up smoking hours upon end, which increases the levels of various carcinogenic and harmful substances found in the body. Studies are presently being conducted on the health implications of hookah smokers. Preliminary studies confirm increased risks for various cancers including bladder and lung, decreased lung function, increased amounts of reactive oxygen species, and even infectious diseases (i.e. TB) due to the use of a single pipe by many smokers.
This is further being exaggerated by the fact that hookah bars are popping up just about every where. In New York City, about twenty have opened up in a matter of a few years. In these bars, cigarette smoking is allowed with the same fervor as hookah smoking, thus increasing the yield of second hand smoke. In New York City, it might seem contradictory that smoking has been banned in bars but hookah bars are still allowed. Excluded from the ban are those institutions that earn at least 10% of their revenue from tobacco and tobacco related products. With the ban on smoking in many public places being implemented, the scarcity of tobacco friendly areas promotes the establishment of more hookah bars. These bars aren’t opening in just any small area. Just around my alma mater, New York University, at least four exist within walking distance. Some of these hookah bars and lounges don’t even check for ID, further propagating the use of tobacco related products by minors. In essence, it’s the youth that are being targeted again. Did I mention déjà vu?
Actions should be taken now, focusing mainly on education. Many primary care providers as well as the general public haven’t been exposed to the information that hookah smoking has deleterious health effects. Public campaigns, like thetruth.com advertisements or magazine ads, should be run to inform the public. Secondly, health warnings should be placed on all tobacco related products. Hookah bars should limit the session in a day for each individual and provide disposable mouth pieces that prevent cross contamination of the air hoses from which people inhale from. This allows the possibility of infectious contractible diseases to be limited. These measures are just a start, but if implemented, would certainly curtail the spread of this new risky behavior. Hopefully, déjà vu is suppressed.
-Mubashar Khan:Mount Sinai School of Medicine 09′
The statement that the tobacco used in hookah contains 2-4% nicotine is either false or obtained through faulty means. The vast majority of shisha sold is made with “washed tobacco” with the end product containing .05% to .5% nicotine. Also obtainable (but much less common) is unwashed tobacco, with the end product containing as much as 1% nicotine. This is used in the less common flavors such as “Zagoul” which have more of the actual tobacco’s flavor to them. Note that Shisha is a mixture of the tobacco, the flavoring, the treacle (molasses), and sometimes added glycerin. The proportions of tobacco/molasses/flavorings is generally around 3/5/2. Thus Shisha “tobacco” is therefore usually around 1/3 tobacco.
It is not the nicotine that is released more at higher temperatures, but the carcinogenic compounds in smoke. With the lower temperature that shisha tobacco has applied to it the tobacco is not burned but rather the flavorings and molasses are cooked out of it slowly. This is why shisha smoke is much less harsh than cigarette smoke.
Also, the word used for the flavored tobacco in the US is Shisha (not spelled sheesha but pronounced that way). This is not the actual word for hookah tobacco. The term was adopted in the United States and is actually used in Egypt to refer to the hookah itself.
Tangiers brand of flavored tobacco is manufactured in the US so US laws DO apply to it, and believe it or not, other countries do have quality control laws as well.
The fact that there are no details on how the results were reached makes me extremely suspicious of this article and it’s conclusions. I agree that smoking out of a hookah is dangerous, however I disagree with the “experts” who state that a single session is as bad as smoking 100 cigarettes. I will continue to be skeptical until I see a study done which shows step by step how it came to that conclusion.
“100 puffs of hookah contained more significant amounts of nicotine, tar, arsenic, chromium, and lead compared to cigarette smoking”
Notice that in this statement they do not define how many cigarettes are smoked. Try taking a drag off of a cigarette then exhaling into a napkin. Try the same with a hookah. You all have the opportunity to find out for yoursleves. Anyone at all can be an expert. Don’t trust what so called “experts” say when you could find out for yourself.
Thank you St. Goody, for the first non-biased comment on this article.
I am the person to whom Colleen is referring and I need to correct a minor misunderstanding. I did not say that a cigarette box will say 0% tar. What I said was that, just like a box of hookah tobacco, a pack of cigarettes contains no tar. That is correct — there is no tar in a box of cigarettes or in a box of hookah tobacco. Of course, this statement is meaningless, because “tar” is a SMOKE constituent, not a tobacco constituent. In other words, “tar” is not produced until a heat source is applied to the cigarette/hookah tobacco and smoke is produced. Then there is “tar”, and plenty of it, in the cigarette smoke and in the hookah smoke. Thus, the statement on a box of hookah tobacco that says “0% tar” is entirely accurate and wholly misleading.
Observant readers are quite right to note that cigarette boxes often do provide an amount of tar. However, the amount of tar that they are providing is measured by a U.S. Federal Trade Commission approved method of measuring smoke content, not measuring cigarette content. Briefly, by the FTC method, a cigarette is lit and placed in a smoking machine that takes puffs of a certain size at regular intervals. The resulting SMOKE is analyzed for tar, nicotine, and CO content. I am not defending the FTC method– it has many flaws.
I should point out that neither a cigarette nor a box of hookah tobacco contains any carbon monoxide either, but I hope we can all agree that CO is produced when these products are heated/burned (CO is a product of virtually every form of combustion on earth).
Also, the details St. Goody requests are available by reading the scientific articles on which the comments were based. You may need to go to a library to get the full text, but the relevant abstracts can be found here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12453738?ordinalpos=18&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
and
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15778004?ordinalpos=14&itool=EntrezSystem2.PEntrez.Pubmed.Pubmed_ResultsPanel.Pubmed_RVDocSum
Both of these articles were reviewed by experts prior to publication, and both used state of the art methods that mimic, to the best of current knowledge, the way in which waterpipe users smoke (based on detailed observation of waterpipe users in Beirut, Lebanon). In short, this work is not casual, fly-by-night research by some amateur. It is high quality science. I am certain it can be improved, and we are working to improve on it. Nonetheless, it deserves to be read and understood before it is critiqued.
I agree wholeheartedly that hookah smoking is hazardous to your health. However, I disagree with the way that the negative effects of hookah smoking are stated, and strongly disagree with taking “expert” opinions without a touch of skepticism.
The information within the two links seems quite vague for a research paper. The statement “results using a common mo’assel tobacco mixture” does not tell you which brand, type, or flavor the shisha is. The comparison to the smoke in an entire hookah session using 1.5 coals and 171 puffs to a single cigarrette is also highly flawed, as the amount of tobacco smoked in a session with 1.5 coals is much larger than what is in cigarrettes. The usage of the term “nicotine free dry particulate matter” does not state how much of the said particulate matter is toxic. I am not certain what kind of mo’assel was used for that experiment, but lead does not occur normally in the shisha tobacco. That is most likely a result of the construction of the pipe that was used, which is another piece of information which is left out.
Once again, I must protest the use of unreferenced “experts” in any supposedly valid research paper. Anyone at all can claim to be an expert on a subject.
I think that the interpretation of the severity of these results needs serious rethinking, and that any scientific conclusion is not valid until it is repeatedly shown true. I also think that informing people of the risks and using misleading information to affect people’s opinions are two completely different things. The study is hardly thorough enough to qualify the definite and condemning tone of this article.
Vague? I sent you a link to the *abstract*, which is a brief summary, usually 250 words or less, of a complete research paper. Have you read the paper (which is 9 pages long)? Here is an excerpt:
“To standardize the experiments, self-starting charcoal
disks manufactured by Three Kings Charcoal Co.
(Holland) sold widely in tobacco supply shops were
utilized, at a rate of one disk for each 100-puff smoking
session. The disks were held by a metal tong with the
radial axis of the disk in a vertical plane, and the bottom
side exposed for 5 s to the flame of a butane
cigarette lighter, and held for an additional 100 s in the
same position to ensure that the ignition agent had been
entirely consumed before placing the charcoal disk on
the argileh head (the reaction front visibly traverses the
entire length of the disk in roughly 45 s after lighting).
The first puff was initiated 15 s after the disk was placed
on the head. One disk, weighing 5.8 g, was used in each
smoking session, and its weight recorded before and
after each session.
Three 250-g packages of the locally most popular type
of mo’assel tobacco mixture (”Two Apples” flavor,
manufactured by Adel El-Ibiary & Co., Egypt) were
mixed together, and large agglomerations and stems
removed (accounting for approx. 10% of the as-purchased
weight) so as to create a more homogeneous
mixture for the experiments. The mixture was parceled
into airtight packets of roughly 12 g each, and stored in
a sealed container at 20 C in the dark for the duration
of the study. For each smoking run, an individual
packet was unwrapped and 10 g of tobacco mixture was
loaded into the head, essentially filling it.
A small aluminium foil sheet (approx. 9 cm 9cm)
was used to cover the head, and was perforated
according to the 18-hole pattern shown in Fig. 2.
Rather than wrapping the foil tautly over the head,
enough slack was left to allow an approximately 2 mm
depression relative to the head rim to be formed in
order to help hold the coal disk in place during the
smoking session. It was found that when the foil was
wrapped tautly, it tended to form a ”drumhead” that
vibrated at the bubbling frequency, particularly in the
second half of the smoking session, when the tobacco
under the foil had become stiff and its vibrationdamping
properties reduced. This caused the coal to
migrate, thereby necessitating periodic intervention
during the session to prevent it from marching entirely
off the head (it is quite usual for an argileh smoker to
adjust the coal during a smoking session). With the
depression, the need for intervention was greatly
reduced or eliminated altogether, though the bubbleinduced
vibration remained noticeable.
After each smoking run, the water in the bowl was
discarded, the bowl partially re-filled, shaken by hand
for several seconds, and discarded again. The bowl was
then re-filled with tap water to the water level indicator
line (corresponding to a volume of 785 ml). The head
was emptied, wiped dry with a paper towel, and repacked
with the prescribed 10 g of tobacco mixture. In
keeping with common practice at local restaurants and
coffee shops, there was no attempt to clean any of the
flow passages within the argileh between runs, though
some deposits in the body pipe were visible, with a
thickness of the order 0.1mm.
To further reduce variations between smoking sessions,
all flow interfaces—head/body, body/bowl, and
sidearm/hose—were externally sealed each smoking
session with one layer of electrical tape. In addition, the
body and water bowl were joined via a rubber sleeve
that was originally supplied with the argileh. The ceramic
head fit tightly into the body as supplied with no
rubber sleeve.
The apparatus used in this study was obtained from a
stock of in-use argilehs at a local popular restaurant
frequented by argileh smokers. Some 40 standard
smoking sessions were conducted in the lab prior to the
first set of nicotine and water determinations. It is
expected that aerosol deposition on the various argileh
flow surfaces is greater when the apparatus is new than
when it is well-seasoned, though this remains to be verified
experimentally. The dimensions of the argileh used
in the study are listed in Table 2.
I think, if you would please read the paper, you will find many answers to your questions. With all due respect, until you read the *entire* paper, please refrain from criticising it.
No one knows what is in the “nicotine free dry particulate matter” (which is the legal definition of “tar”) that is in waterpipe smoke. Addressing questions like this takes time and a great deal of money. We are working on it.
I suspect, as you do, that lead does not occur in shisha tobacco (though I have not analyzed shisha tobacco for lead content, so I have no data to support my suspicion. I suspect that the lead occurs in the charcoal, and we are working to determine if this suspicion is supported by the data.
I have never had my coal move on me when the foil was taut…?
Did anyone else notice that the article was written by first year med students???
The answer to this debate is simple: If you don’t like it- don’t do it.
I don’t buy the whole “Allah
is against it” angle either. Let me get this straight- its OK to strap on a bomb but not smoke? Its OK to treat women like shit in the Middle East but not smoke?
I got into smoking the Hookah while stationed in Iraq. I was introduced to it by Iraqi shop keepers on base. I was under the understanding that it was a part of the culture. When I went to the UAE (beautiful part of the world BTW) I smoked in a Hookah bar there… My point is that its part of life in the Middle East.
It maybe bad for me but so is an IED!
In defense of the author of this article, – please stop the ad hominem attacks. If you like hookah/sheeshah – thats fine just dont bash the author for his research and cited facts.
This article is not stopping anyone from smoking sheeshah – but to argue that it has NO negative impact on ur airways and lungs, is baseless and quite naive.
I don’t think anyone even said it had no negative impact on your airway or lungs. People are just questioning the shotty facts in the article… when someone writes false info and portrays it to the public as facts then by all means people should be allowed to attack the author with comments.
Oscar states my point quite well. I never argued that smoking shisha is not detrimental to your health, only that the research was seriously flawed.
And Harry, deliberate misinterpretation of beliefs exists in almost every major religion, including Islam. That is the reason (in my view) for such attacks.
I think smoking is a personal choice and that if your beliefs tell you that it is wrong, then it is. However, information which is not completely truthful can influence people’s ideas on almost anything. I was merely illustrating that we must take a very hard look at anyone who claims to be an expert on a subject in order to be certain that the information which we form our opinions on is not flawed.
I personally love hookah. i go to hookah bars, not a lot,
just every once in a while with some friends, as a social thing.
Maybe once or twice a month.
I think cigs are worse for u personaly. You dont pull out a hookah when
your in the car or while ur walking down the street, like cig smokers
do. they smoke a LOT more all the time, every day. Unlike hookah
smokers who only do it once in a while. Im no researcher on it, but
i think all the time is worse then once in a while.
But this is a personal opinion. Where all gonna die, so might
as well try things and do it a fun way riight. haha
ohhh and that person that was in the hospital obviously had
other heath problems, smoking hookah wont drop u to the
ground and have a heartattack…sorry.
My roommates want me to try smoking hookah with them, but I’m not sure about it. They told me it’s like smoking an apple or another fruit and that it’s not harmful. So I decided to do some research on it. I have found that it’s not an apple it’s flavored TOBACCO. I don’t smoke (anything) or drink alcohol (not until I’m 21) But here’s an idea
moderation. For example I don’t drink because of the legal reason not a health reason. And in a few months when I do turn 21 I know I will only be an occasional drinker because I believe in moderation. I don’t see the point in putting something harmful in my body for cheap thrills. That just isn’t me. But I do believe people should try new things if the effects aren’t extremely harmful. So I still may end up trying hookah when my roommate buys one, since I know I would only try it once or twice. But than again I probably won’t, not after everything I’ve found out.
this has been real interesting reading. I agree with the original article’s direction.
smoking is bad
i do think alot of hookah smokers underestimate the danger of it. it is possible due to frequency of use that over a period of time cigs are going to be worse for you, but I believe this research is pretty sound
some say there needs to be more sources, go google a neutral topic like, hookah vs ciggarates, or something to that extent. you will find that the majority of the articles whether or not they are “professional” or “expert” (im sure some are) the majority says its bad, and sinc it is a form of smoking, it is tobacco, and second hand moke and the time smoking it makes it a VERY hard to defend topic
for the longest time ciggarettes seemd cool, good, awesome, it was mostly due to media infulence, billboards, tv, movies, ppl wanted to feel good, like the movie stars they so idolized,
and its no surprise that history repeats itself, its proven true so many times in the past, this is only a small example of it too.
sooner or later, hookah smoking will reach the frequency of ciggs, (hopefully not) but I’m sure it will and by then there will be much better reaserch done and the evidence that it is quite bad for you will finally come to light for even the most hardcore skeptical, hookah defenders
some of the smokers out there bash the nonsmokers for making faulty research, or rash assumptions, or making things up, or making hookah “evil”
OK, but ask yourself this, why….
why would we bash hookah?
are we getting large sums of money for it?
i dont think so
and we all know the number one drive to do anything(good or bad) is greed, or the desire for money.
thats life and how it is,very few people actually do something on that large of a scale for the good of others soley.
on the OTHER hand, hookah companies want growth, ie more money. so they will do anything to make hookah seem like a sound, safer alternative
whats the difference between smoking a cig outsie on a smoke break by urself in the cold… and smoking hookah inside a nice exotic well refreshed lounge where many other people are doing the same
its simple…. hookah bars and such dont SINGLE u out like smoking has become
thats why smoking is going down thank god
in time, history WILL repeat itself and people will eventually realize that theres bigger things at stake than money, votes or income.
until then its a personal choice and being educated on the topic is all one can do.
I dont smoke, never did, and never will
I have farrrr better things to do with my time, and my money, and my life, i have far better thrills and far better friends than ones who encourage me to go smoke anything.
THINK people, how many friends would you lose if alcohol and smoking all of a sudden went out of existence. alot of friends are only drinking budies or smoking buddies, true friends always share something in common
but for crying out loud, share the right thing in common
thats my rant
and think about this…
if it wasnt for the hitlers, and the cigs and the wars, imagine how much MORE our world would be overpopulated…
thats …disturbing.
laterz
Thank you for the rant.
It would probably help your position to do some research into normal hookah smoking behaviors, and perhaps read my previous comments more carefully. (of course, I am assuming that you are responding to the comments) I state that it is very important to base your opinions on facts. Faulty research produces misleading results.
Another issue with hookah research which I have seen is that the “tar” is not analyzed clearly for carcinogen concentrations. Colleen made the point that the tar is a byproduct of smoking. I would like to see a study on the effects of a lower burning temperature on the contents of tar. I am very curious about this point.
how come when i smoke 1 cigarette i feel it in my lungs for the next week, and my breath and stamina get alot worse when i exercise, but when i do hookah none of that happens to me?? i would like a response thanx
a friend of mine smokes shisha frequently and recently she brought me along with her to this cafe..i didn’t try it cuz i know it’s bad, but just sitting next to her and inhaling the smoke she was letting out gave me a headache! i just felt really lightheaded after sitting there in the cafe, so if that’s how i’m gonna feel if i try shisha, then no thanks. personally i have nothing against people who smoke shisha because it’s their choice, but it’s not exactly harmless either..
i smoke shisha regularly. my biggest problem is people trying to infringe on my freedom. if i want to smoke, i should be able to make that decision. i consider myself well educated and definitely capable of making my own decisions. unfortunately usa and the uk are becoming nanny states.
i am seeing people on here almost offended by shisha bars? why? if you don’t drink, don’t go to a bar. if you hate gambling then don’t spend time in a betting shop. so if you don’t think it’s right people should be able to smoke don’t go into a shisha bar. but DONT tell me how i should live my life. i don’t tell people not to do drugs when i see them. if they ask, i will tell them my issues i have with people doing them, but not get on my high horse spurting out facts about the harm they cause- and you know why? because they already know.
i digress though, my main point is if there are solid facts on the harm of shisha, i am happy to hear them (or not, so to speak) but i then don’t need the facts to be beaten into my skull.
i understand the religious element. as said before, if your religion (whatever it is) governs smoking/drinking/drugs etc is bad, then it is. however others who are not of the same religion should not be submitted to rants, rules or anything else in that capacity from someone who thinks it bad.
First off, let me start by saying, yes smoke is bad for your no matter what form it comes in: cigarette, hookah, mechanical plant, cars, fire, etc.
However, the original article at the top of this page greatly exaggerates and without a doubt has no scientific footing in it’s “facts”
On to my comments.
Whoa there Haseeb. You’re mistaken in your statement: “Just don’t bash the author for his research and cited facts.”
What facts? What research?
He did none, he went off word of mouth and his own assumptions.
Here are a few reasons the article at the top is just a waste of space:
- He’s a first year med student. Trust me I know plenty of them. Enough said
- He likened Hookah to “illicit drugs” and followed an illogical path that because it has more than one name in reference to it, then it is in fact: bad.
* So everything that has more than one name is a bad thing? Saltines/crackers, agua/water, any word for love, for human, etc etc.
-it’s not a bad thing, it’s just how people in different places refer to one common thing.
- “That fictitious claim couldn’t be corroborated by any non-hookah smoker.”
*and his fictions claims can be rebutted by anyone hookah smoker or not.
Eissenberg’s post of a part of a separate research paper is much more in depth, with controlled experiments outlined to give a logical pathway to the end results.
Please email me if you’d like some assistance or ideas with the research. (liquidglass@gmail.com)
-However, I do agree with St. Goody. What kind of Hookah/water-pipe was used in the experiment? You’d be surprised how important that is.
For further research into your experiment you should test the metal on the inside of the stem. Certain metals are toxic and very harmful. While others are suitable to use heat, water, and smoke with.
-Also, three kings coals are one of the worst types of coals (mostly because they use a compound found in Gun powder for ignition). There are at least 3 different types of coals I recommend you try. All of which are less harmful to ones body and. just email me.
- Coals are moved to affect different areas of ‘shisha’ where as some has dried up and some has not. You NEVER cover a bowl with your coal, which it sounds like you have. You place coals on the edges of a bowl, even if that constitutes breaking them in half. Then you move them around to ensure and even heating.
- Don’t use electrical tape, if you’re going to ‘clone’ a hookah smoking experience, then clone it.
-For research purposes you do need to state the name of the brand of shisha, that matters a lot. Most likely you got the cheapest you could find, which is terrible quality healthy and taste wise
- Lastly, research into the different types of non-tobacco shisha. There are kinds made from completely organic materials (like fruit shavings covered in molasses) And some people actually smoke fruit itself. Just putting fruit into the bowl and heating it.
Sacul
The funny thing is you’re doing exactly what you say you have no reason to do.
You’re indirectly bashing hookah, not hard, but bashing all the same.
“that’s why smoking is going down thank god”
“until then it’s a personal choice and being educated on the topic is all one can do”
“I have farrrr better things to do……”
You’re being a hypocrite.
People will bash hookah or ciggs for the same reason people bash drinking (we’re not talking getting trashed, I mean moderate drinking). It’s because it’s what they were taught or believed at a young age and it’s become such an ingrained part of them that they can’t view the topic from any other point.
If you don’t like hookah, cool, that’s fine no biggie. If you do, that’s also cool with me. People just need to learn to stop bashing one another.
Perhaps it’s just my opinion but it seems that more bashing was being done in the comments by “non smokers” than by smokers.
HOOKAH IS THE BESTT! I DONT CARE WHAT PPL SAYY! FULL OF SHITT!
This is very interestng discussion here (except for religion part). I actually was looking for bad effects of hukka and came across this article. I believe although it might be bad for health but its a personal choice to do it or not to do it. I smoke hukka almost every alternate day but have not seen any specific impact of it. As far as research goes I have not seen any authentic research on this by any credible govt body or high ranked private institue.
Personally I enjoy hukka and the feel but that is not bondation on anyone to agree or follow….if you want you do it and if you dont want then fine…..who cares………..
Guys really? Everything now a days causes cancer. Just the other day they found out that the plastic water bottles cause cancer. Everything is dangerous and you just have to live life to the fullest and don’t let this kind of stuff scare you. How many people out there smoke hookah and are 60 years old? Not much because you grow out of it after around 25 . When you are born the day you are going to die is already written down in the big man up stairs book. So stop freaking out over little crap. Enjoy life. And as for cancer not everyone gets it, my grandma smoked for 65 years and is still alove with no health issues. I am Ryan and I smoke hookah at least 3 times a week. And feal awesome.
Hi, I am Quasam. I got to know sheesha through my friends and i was scared to tried it at first and i feared it might bring about health problems and all that. But, as it says in rome you do as the romans do, so to keep my friends company i had to try it. Now i smoke only occasionally thats like a few days one month in a year. The rest of my 11 months are free of any smoke, but as far as I have seen sheesha is alot different to cigarrettes as if u try a cigarrette you fell light headed and overwhelmed. But nothing such happens even if you smoke sheesha for half an hour, it is like a very light amount of smoke though it it more. Sheesha has become a trend in young people who are amazed by the smoke and the fruit tastes and feel light and fresh. In the end I would like to say that it is good for occasions but it aint good for regular purposes and even if u do u should quit it cause you are not aware of the dangers and harms it could bring in your life. If you dont believe it, try a sheesha alone for a little less than an hour and you wll feel it.
Good bye and take care.
so if you do hookah three to five times in a lifetime, your body is easily capable to recover right? Who seriously does it 40 min to an hour haha i get bored after like 10 min
This is a very interesting read. My 15-year-old daughter went to a hookah bar this past weekend. She said that nearly everyone in the bar was underage (but it was early–between 8:30 and 9:30 PM). She was not the least bit nervous or apprehensive about telling me that she went there and that she tried it. A friend told me that one hookah smoking session was like smoking 20 cigs. I decided to do my own research on the internet, and that’s how I found this article and the comments.
So my questions are: 1) for all you hookah smokers out there, when you go to a hookah bar, how often do you notice underage smokers? Do you notice if folks are carded and turned away? Do any of these hookah bars offer the tobacco-free products such as shisha (I’ve read that although shisha is bad, it isn’t as bad as tobacco-based hookah).
It is my intent to educate myself on this so that I can educate my daughter. I want her to make smart choices in life and at her age often she has to make very difficult choices–between sex, drugs, and alcohol, hookah just seems like innocent a way to rebel.
Thoughts?
To MEMMD
I am 16 and used to do shisha nearly everyday but after a while it became stopped so yes most teens just to it to be accepted by other or to act cool.
And the answers to your questions are:
1) The shisha place I go to in west london is ALL under 21 minimum 14 its like a youth club just with shisha. Ha ha!! But the atmosphere is the main reason why they go their because of its laid back attitude to just have a chat and laugh with their friends.However most places do not allow anyone underage these are mostly ones that are high end restaurants who fear of being closed down.
2) To be honest i don’t even know the difference between shisha and hookah i thought hookah was the actual pipe and thing they put the water in and shisha the actual flavouring.flavoring.
But make sure your daughter is aware to be careful!! If she does shisha at dodgy places that are not licensed to do shisha most will not clean out the equipment properly and if done at a house that she does not know very well the person might of purchased(majority of the time by accident) weed/marijuana mixed shisha which can make you very sick.
Hi Sohia, You have some very good insight and I do appreciate your sharing it. I’ve had a nice open conversation with my daughter about your points. I have not completely forbidden it, but asked her to proceed with caution if it was her intent to try it again. We live in the Washington DC area where very little is tolerated for our youth–it’s tough to straddle the line between ultra-conservative child rearing, and allowing the kids to make and learn from their own mistakes (a far better lesson learned than me preaching in her ear).
It’s ok MEMMD. I think parents should really follow your example
in teaching the younger generation by having these converstaions
that you have with your daughter.
I haven’t read all the replies so I hope I’m not repeating anything here but:
Firstly, shisha tobacco actually contains (unless they’re all lying) 0.05% nicotine not 2-4% and some cigarettes contain up to 9% nicotine, not 1-2% as stated. I haven;t done any “scientific” tests on this but I know this much; I only smoke very occassionally (maybe one cigarette every month or so) and each time I do, I get a strong head rush, like the first time you ever smoked, I’ve had shisha a few times and after about 15 mins I start to feel very relaxed, and a bit later have a light headed feeling but only very mildly, nothing compared to what I get after a few puffs ona fag!
Secondly, when you smoke shisha, the tobacco mix isn;t burned, as in you don;t set on fire like you do a cigarette, it is heated in a more oven like manner, which means you don’t take in so much carbon monoxide.
Thirdly – shisha tobacco contains absolutely zero tar which is one of the worst things about cigarette smoking.
So all in all, I don;t think it’s that bad, but in moderation of course, like the odd weekend or holiday. Obviously inhaling anything but fresh air isn’t perfectly healthy, but I’m not convinced that shisha smoking is nearly as bad a cigarettes, and besides, it tastes good, doesn’t make you or your house stink and makes quite a nice ornament!!
Hey um i tried hookah a while a go with my friends and after a while i got my own and then my mom found it she wasn’t to happy
I told her it wasnt that bad for you but didnt really have any research or anything to prove it so i thought i would look it up and now im not sure i mean the shisha i bought had 5% tobbaco how can so little be so bad for you
are there verryinging amounts of tobaco and shisha and wat is the healthiest way to do it because i really enjoyed it its very relaxing
so if anyone knows of any more res3earch done please email me at
williammuench@hotmail.com
thnx
Its ok to discuss smoking Hookah and its possible harmfull effects. But please don`t give fatwas and state it is haraam straight away. yes it is a waste of money, and could possibly damage your health, but please do NOT give fatwas and DO NOT blindly quote ulama without references. There is a difference of opinion amoungst Ulama. Include a weblink if you have to , but don`t make arbitrary comments. Salaam.
Truthfully do more research into this subject. To the author of this study it sounds to me as if your facts where taken from the WHO report which has already been scrutinized and MOSTLY proven as fallacy due to the untruthful facts it presented as well as the funding for the study which came from numerous ANTI-SMOKING groups. Check your history too. Adolph Hitler had the same type of studies done after his conquest of NAZI Germany. The basis of most of todays anti-smoking information comes from the third riech studies.
NO PREVALENT AND UNBIASED STUDIES HAVE BEEN DONE ON THIS SUBJECT.
If you don’t like it fine. Don’t force your opinions on me and / or any one else because you don’t like it.
Unfortunately neo media pussies such as the goody-two-shoes groups or the holier than thou moral morons are doing just that and forcing their opinions on everyone else.
If you have nothing better to do than to push for your NAZI regulations to force everyone to stop doing something you don’t like, I suggest you take a hard look at yourself. There is definately something wrong with your mental proceesses.
As for those of us who are smokers, we had better stand up, stand together, and bombard our governements with email, letters, phone calls and force them to STOP the ANTI-FREEDOM legislation that takes our right to FREE CHOICE. If we don’t we may as well give up now. I for one will not. Even if it is outlawed I will grow my own and make my own moassel.
wow this is another propaganda bullshit study… well if you say that hookahs are soo dangerous, howcome there has never been recorded proof someone who smokes hookah soley in at least a few hundred years now. another thing people arent realising is that the flavored tobacco or shisha is actually beeing baked or vaporized when you smoke it. the majority of the smoke you get from a hookah is actually the flavor, mollasses, and glycerin in a vaporized form, hence why shisha is soo flavorfull were as if you smoke a ciggarette it just tastes like burning tobacco because you are indeed burning it when you smoke it. when you smoke hookah you are not burning the tobacco but more like vaporizing it which is actually quite safer then normal smoking…
” I cant say i have never taken a draw off a bong,or a hooka pipe an tend not
to have done over a hundred puffs in a year,an am not into alot of smoking at
all,though yes! i have had some but not the flavored those drops some put on thier
smoke! thats not new to put those drops of a thing like a innsense on a cigerette
or joint some think it does`nt smell it does too! though not as much unless you smoke in a room or a crowd. I think like most , some do try! an some dont say
to much,your body will tell you if you do work out,or your freinds will see a change
an say not now! you`ve had what! some call excess thats rare,some dont use
the hooka! thats been around for a long time,others just pass an talk, an dont bug!
If you like some even a doctor will know about you just cause of you smell on the clothes,an they will say is this person a regular smoker!, i dont know that but they smoke the odd cigerette,not the drops or the hooka! thats my replie!
personally i love smoking. whether it be cigs, pot, hookah w.e. i hate how people always bash on peoples personal choice. if you want to smoke than its your choice. i just bought a hookah because of the fact that its way more relaxed than just puffin on a cancer stick. and to the comment where someone said shisha mixed with marijuana makes you really sick i would like to clarify that is a false statement. you are obviously a new smoker. mixing just makes the experience all the better.
PLUR
i’m a student from south africa
hubbly has become extremely popular amongst the youth (ranging from ages of 16 to 28)
and with the hubbly sessions they vary , sometimes lasting up to 5/6 hours.
its considered as a very popular social activity
and although many hubb smokers consider cigerette smoking as gross(myself being an ex cigerette smoker ) i find it clumsy how people would judge cigerette smoking as being so disgusting..while they still light up charcoal..
so i’m glad that i’ve taken time to read all these comments and learn a bit more about the ‘dangers ‘mentioned
i definately think that there’s plenty more serious research that needs to be done to create more awareness..
many hubb smokers in south africa tend to be naive about these dangers
here is the link to one of the papers.
http://webfea-lb.fea.aub.edu.lb/aerosol/downloads/argilehpaper1.pdf
this is a summary i wrote in a another forum about the paper..
Smoking shisha actually contains a significantly higher concentration of the heavy metals, particularly Chromium (Group1 known carcinogen) and Lead (Group2B possible carcinogen). This is from 12g of shisha. Even Arsenic was high 165 vs 40-120.
(in nanograms)
__________ Argileh _____ Cigarette
Chromium: _ 1340 _______ 4-70
Lead:______ 6870 _______ 34-85
Seriously, that is 19x to 335x the amount of Chromium in ciggs. And 80x to 202x the amount of Lead in a single session. This was all measured in the “hose” part of the system, after it leaves the water and hookah.
“Tar” in this study is what they measured as NFDPM (Nicotine Free Dry Particulate Matter). Basically all the other crap that is not nicotine, including the metals. Also “tar” is in quotation marks to distinguish it from the tar that is used to make roads and the stuff for roofs. It is not the same tar, but has the same name.
It does go on to say however that although the amount of “tar” is significantly higher (1 shisha session = 20 low tar cigarettes), HOWEVER, the contents of the “tar” (NFDPM) varies greatly from cigarettes. According to the article, the 450C temperature of the foil to the ~120C of the tobacco is much too low for chemical reactions to occur to produce even more harmful chemicals to your body. This is compared to the 900C cherry at the tip of a cigarette. The study didn’t specify or compare what harmful chemicals are created in cigarette smoke however. One can argue the “tar” from shisha smoke contains fewer carcinogens because of this. BUT the high levels of carinogenic metals in shisha (lead and chromium) still need to be taken into consideration.
The higher amount of “tar” in shisha makes sense when you factor that shisha users inhale so much more smoke in one session as compared to the smoke in one cigarette. The smoke being the “tar” being inhaled. Smoke is not vapor, as someone here tried to argue. And since when are all vapors considered safe??
Nicotine was most affected by the water due to it being water soluble. So the water in the vase actually does act as a filter for the nicotine. However the rest of the dry particulate matter passed right through. They had taken measurements with and without water, and nicotine levels were the only one to really rise. With the water, Nicotine levels were on par with the amount in one ciggarette. A session in this study is 55minutes long and consists of: 100 puffs (3sec each), separated by 30 seconds each time. Each puff is 0.3 liters of air (volume).
These tests are measuring how much stuff your lungs will be exposed to. And not what gets trapped in your lungs. I’m sure it still is a lot, and exposure alone does count for a lot since enough exposure to your body will have a reaction irregardless of what is trapped inside your lungs. Smoking is bad period. But if smoked occasionally, perhaps once a month, I can’t imagine it being so detrimental relative to a bad diet, lack of exercise, and even air pollution if living in a big city. Bottom line, use your judgment and understand that shisha can be as bad as cigarettes. Also, (unrelated) remember Alcohol is a group 1 carcinogen. And if you drink a lot, the byproduct, acetaldehyde, is even more toxic until your body breaks it down to acetic acid. I just had to add that since so many people say smoking is so bad and horrible but neglect and simply ignore the facts about alcohol altogether.
i took like 30 hits of the sheesha my first time, and it didnt make me light headed or dizzy.. nothing… the smoke was smooth and light, never coughed. i dont even smoke ciggs
What about these “0% tobacco, -tar, -nicotine” shishas? Are they as dangerous as cig too? Or these “hydro herbal shisha”s http://www.smoking-hookah.com/category/41381001/ ?
First off, not ALL shisha brands have 3-4% of Nicotine. Fantasia actually has 0.5%
Hey, does anybody else smell a ton of bullshit and ignorance in a bunch of these?
n22oo7qva
http://002evolves.blogspot.com
cn we drink it occasionally
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